Standish - The best of Majorie Standish chowders soups & stews: downeast recipes

It was with great pride we used Maine canned corn. No longer canned in Maine. Yet the canning industry was founded in Maine over a century ago when Isaac Winslow perfected the steam process which made possible the commercial canning of fresh foods.

2 slices salt pork

1 small onion, sliced or diced

2 cups diced raw potatoes

2 teaspoons salt

teaspoon pepper

1 cup water

1 can Maine cream style corn

1 quart milk

Piece of butter

Use a good sized kettle. Place 2 slices salt pork in it and cook slowly over low heat until fat is tried out. Remove pieces of salt pork, add onion and cook slowly until onion is yellowed. Add water, diced raw potato, salt and pepper. Cover and bring to steaming point. Lower heat and cook until potato is tender or about 15 minutes. Add corn. Add quart of milk. Some canned evaporated milk may be added for richness, if you wish. Taste for seasoning, add piece of butter and reheat slowly. Allow chowder to ripen for an hour to develop flavor. Serves 4.

Betty Jackson of Portland has shared so many recipes with us over the years. This winter she sent this recipe for a hearty Broccoli Chowder that will delight cooks for use, year around.

2 cans chicken broth, about 10 oz. each

About 4 cups chopped broccoli (fresh or frozen)

3 cups milk

1 cup light cream or use evaporated milk

Salt to taste

2 cups shredded Swiss cheese

or may use Cheddar

1 cup chopped ham

stick margarine

Pour chicken broth into a large saucepan. Add chopped broccoli. Cook 10 to 15 minutes or until tender. Add milk, cream, cheese, ham, margarine and salt.

Cover and simmer 15 minutes. Stir frequently. Be careful not to cook on too high a heat, nor too thin a pot. Check seasoning, may need black pepper. To reheat, it is best to use a double boiler.

This recipe makes 2 quarts of chowder.

Ive had my fair share of judging recipe contests and am very grateful for the opportunity. Not so many years ago, the Maine Dairy Council sponsored Maine Grange Dairy suppers during June Dairy Month. I recall that the first time we did it, 153 Maine granges entered this contest. Huntoon Hill Grange of Wiscasset won that first contest. Their main dish, which was strictly Maine, was for Lobster Chowder. It was the first time I had known of lobster being used in a chowder.

6 to 8 tablespoons butter

2 small onions, minced

4 medium-sized potatoes, diced

Salt and pepper to taste

4 medium sized lobsters, or when cooked and picked out, enough to make 2 pounds lobster meat

2 quarts milk, warmed

Cook the onion and potato in one cup water in a covered pan until they are tender. Add cooked lobster meat that has been cut into smallish pieces. Add butter. Stir with a fork to mix together and cook about 3 minutes. Warm the milk, then add to the lobster mixture. Season to taste. Allow to mellow. Serves 6 to 8.

This is Helen Richams recipe. I delight in telling this story. Helen was the Home Service Advisor with Central Maine Power Co. in the Western Division with Lewiston as headquarters. Helen was the Company to me and everyone she contacted. I always told her, Everything I know, I learned from you. It was our private joke. We worked together 10 years. This is my favorite recipe.

pound salt pork, diced

2 onions, sliced or diced

4 cups potatoes, in small pieces

1 or 2 cups water

2 pounds fish fillets (haddock, cod or cusk)

1 teaspoon salt

teaspoon pepper

teaspoon Accent

2 or 3 cups whole milk

1 tall can evaporated milk

Fry diced salt pork slowly in bottom of heavy kettle until golden colored. Remove pork scraps and set aside. There should be about 3 tablespoons fat in the kettle. Add onions and cook until yellowed (but not brown). Add potatoes and enough water so it comes nearly to top of potatoes. Place fish on top of potatoes, sprinkle with seasonings. Cover, bring to a boil, then cook on low heat until potatoes are tender and the fish flakes. Pour in both kinds of milk and allow to heat thoroughly but not boil. Serves 6.

If you do any stirring at all, be gentle, because fish should be in fairly large pieces, not flaked apart and certainly not mushed.

Good old Maine custom dictates that reheated pork bits be scattered on top of chowder. But you may serve them in a separate dish in case someone votes against the idea.

2 slices salt pork

1 small onion, diced

2 cups water or bottled clam juice

3 cups pared and diced potatoes

1 pound haddock fillets

Salt and pepper

pound scallops

1 pint chopped clams, or 2 cans minced clams

1 can crabmeat or

2 cups fresh lobster meat or

2 cups Maine shrimp

2 quarts milk, scalded

1 stick butter or margarine

Fry out salt pork in kettle, remove pork scraps and cook diced onion in fat gently. Add water or clam juice, potatoes, cover and cook about 15 minutes. Lay haddock fillets and fresh scallops on top of potatoes, simmer slowly just until fish flakes and scallops are done. It is best to quarter the scallops before placing them in kettle. If clams are uncooked, then they go into the kettle at same time. If canned clams are used, then they are added with crabmeat, cooked lobster meat and cooked shrimp. Add scalded milk, stick of butter or margarine. Taste for seasoning. This chowder will be enough for 8 to 10 people.

Once the chowder is assembled, the top of double boiler is excellent for keeping until serving time and leaves far less chance of any curdling or separation. This holds for any stew or chowder where milk is involved.

Salmon chowder is a traditional chowder in Maine. It harks back to days when meat was not always on hand and fresh fish not available. This recipe has filled a need in Maine since olden days. It might be a good idea for you to have a can of salmon in your cupboard, just for an emergency.

My husband, George, taught me to make salmon chowder.

2 slices salt pork

3 or 4 slices onion, diced

3 cups diced potatoes

Salt and pepper

1 cup water

1 tall can salmon

1 quart milk

Lump of butter

Cook slices of salt pork until fat is tried out. Cook onion until golden in fat after removing pork slices. Add water to kettle, add raw potatoes, salt and pepper. Cover kettle and bring to steaming point. Cook on low heat about 15 minutes or until potato is tender.

Use pink, medium or red salmon. The buying public has come to think of red salmon as the only first class salmon, but this is not the case. Pink salmon used in this chowder is delicious and a lot less expensive.